Alvarez & Marsal has bolstered its Transaction Advisory Group in Latin America with five new consultants, all poached from a Big Four rival. Adriano José Ponciano and Emerson Santana join from KPMG, Vitor Garcia and Sergio Quiñones previously served EY and Ancuta Huzum makes the move from Deloitte.

Adriano José Ponciano has been appointed a Managing Director in Alvarez & Marsal’s (A&M) Brazilian office, based in São Paulo. He has nearly 20 years of experience with buy-side and sell-side due diligence of M&A transactions in Brazil, primarily focused on issues related to tax and labour matters and tax structuring. Prior to joining Alvarez & Marsal, Ponciano worked for 18 years at KPMG, latterly as an M&A Tax Partner. During his spell at the Big Four firm, he has advised clients across multiple industries, including infrastructure, telecommunication, automotive, agribusiness, chemical, education, retail, healthcare, private equity and the food industry. Additionally, he has counselled a number of corporations making their first forays into the Brazilian marketplace.

Ponciano holds a law degree from Universidade Paulista and is fluent in both English and Portuguese.

Emerson Santana, formerly a Director of KPMG’s M&A Tax group, brings broad expertise in assisting companies with M&A transactions, including tax and labour due diligence, identification of tax and labour contingencies, tax structuring and post transaction tax integration, compliance, and planning. He has experience with both inbound and outbound investment, corporate reorganisations, import and export transactions and Central Bank regulations. Santana, who holds an accounting degree from Faculdade Trevisan and is a certified accountant, has worked with clients in industries, including telecommunications, manufacturing, chemicals, infrastructure, financial services and agribusiness.

At Alvarez & Marsal, Santana, who is fluent in four languages, has been named a Senior Director, based in Brazil.

Commenting on the new hires, Fabio Pires, Managing Director and Practice Leader for A&M’s Latin American Transaction Advisory Group, says, “Adriano’s and Emerson’s M&A tax and labour expertise highly complements our existing financial and operational due diligence capabilities in Brazil, enabling us to deploy our fully integrated due diligence approach.” Ernesto Perez, Global Practice Leader of A&M Taxand and the firm’s Transaction Advisory Tax practice, adds, “Adriano’s and Emerson’s deep knowledge of the local tax and labour environment offers our clients a critical advantage in navigating the complexities of the Brazilian tax and labour system and circumventing the obstacles it can pose for deal-makers.”

Vitor Garcia brings seven years of experience in audit and transaction advisory to Alvarez. He started his career in 2009 with PP&C Auditores Independentes, a local audit firm, after which he joined EY in 2012. At the accounting and consulting firm, Garcia worked in the Transaction Advisory Services service line, supporting clients with, among others, due diligence, transaction Support and virtual dataroom coordination. Garcia joins A&M in São Paulo as a Director.

Ancuta Huzum joins Alvarez & Marsal’s office in Mexico, based in Mexico City. After starting her career in the banking industry, serving Raiffeisen Bank and Deutsche Bank, Huzum joined KPMG early 2010 in the firm’s Audit practice. After roughly 1.5 years she transferred internally to the Transaction Services arm – in the role she was part of several cross-border transactions. Prior to joining A&M in the summer, Huzum worked for Deloitte for around 15 months, as a Manager, in the firm’s Transaction Services service area.

Sergio Quinones has been appointed a Senior Associate in A&M’s Mexico City based Transaction Advisory Group. He joins the privately-held professional services firm from EY, where he worked as a Senior Consultant, helping clients with buy-side, sell-side and carve-out due diligence. He has served clients in a range of industries, including Automotive, Banking, Real Estate, Oil & Gas and Pharmaceuticals. Quinones holds a Public Accountant degree from Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESM) in Mexico City and is a Certified Fraud Examiner by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).

In addition to the five hires from the Big Four firms, Alvarez & Marsal recently also hired Vitor Nascimento as a Manager in Brazil from Siemens – he is an alumni of EY’s Transaction Advisory Services practice.